Critical discourse analysis of political press conferences

Abstract

This study of political press conferences allows a closer look at diplomatic talk to communicate political differences in a positive way to smooth out socio-political and ideological discrepancies that often divide prominent political figures. Taking a critical discourse analysis (CDA) perspective, this article analyses textual data from press conferences involving the former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the US President George W. Bush, who come from different ideological backgrounds, also sharing differences in other dimensions such as age, experience, economic status, socio-political influence and political objectives. The findings reveal three major themes: positivity for the reinforcement of mutual trust, respect and progress; influence and power for subtle persuasion; and evasion to hedge or avoid responses to probing and inconvenient questions from the media.